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25 February 2010

Houzz is a terrific, relatively new website for house ideas. It's growing rapidly and visitors are encouraged to got through Houzz's extensive library of images and use them to construct idea books of their own. It's a brilliant idea for a bunch of reasons, foremost among them is that it encourages people to do what they'd do anyway. And that's save images they find on the internet.

Houzz has gone a step further in that a photo can't be separated from the name of the designer who created the room. It really smart actually.

Houzz's library contains over 25,000 home design photos, so if you're looking for inspiration, you'll likely find it on Houzz.

I grabbed these photos today for a couple of reasons. After yesterday I wanted to clear the air and write about something basic and non-confrontational. And secondly, I've been getting a lot of requests for white cabinetry lately.

I love this photo, absolutely love it. It's my every life in Manhattan fantasy made real. Anyhow, I think there's something more at work here than just a shift in aesthetics. The white cabinetry thing is showing up across all styles.

20 comments:

Well naturally! I think white done right will always be a design staple. But there are ways to add other elements if a client does not want stark white monochromatic. In my own kitchen I have white cabinets as well but also have louvered doors on the stacked uppers. This gives a bit of texture to the coastal white look I was going for... I also have an island with a Coppertop on one area and dark wenge wood on the other side of the island.Again this breaks up the white with textures. Works well in this type of design for a coastal cottage. To me, white is always in style! I like Houzz also by the way!!

Erika: I'm happy to get another yes vote. White can look pretty institutional if it's all done in monochrome with no textures. But as Cheryl mentioned above, you just have to played around with it and you can warm it right up. What did you use for counters?

I find the first kitchen a bit stark, but I love those wood floors. SO gorgeous.

I love white cabinetry but I couldn't deal with white countertops, I make borscht a LOT and I'd be totally paranoid about staining them. (not to mention that my kids seem to have a hard time with the idea that "cleaning the kitchen" means that you have to wipe the GD counters off too)

I really like that last picture.. that's my ideal kind of kitchen, one that you can cook in while still entertaining guests. I hate feeling like I've been abandoned in there!

There has been a fashion in Australia for bright white two-pack polyurethane kitchen and bathroom cabinets. All white and shiny like your dentist's teeth.

The manufacturers are laughing all the way to the bank with the economies of scale. The required benchtop is either black granite or a composite in some 'natural/neutral' tone. Wood veneers are sometimes used somewhere as a Feature. Just say no!

I personally don't want a white kitchen, but I do think they can be quite pretty. I'm actually designing a kitchen similar to the first one for my Interior Finishes class. But I'm using a darker counter (grey with mirrored flecks -- very cool!!) and a glass tile backsplash. We have to work with white appliances, which is why I'm choosing white cabinets. Otherwise, I'd go with warmer colours... sort of like my new kitchen :-)

I love borscht and make it from scratch too :-) But don't ask me to eat beets!!

OK this settles it, somebody needs to send me a borscht recipe. Kelly and Nim, is there something about Borscht and Canadian national identity or is this just a coincidence that you both make that soup?